


Harvest Moon

by KittyCargo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Art welcome, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harvest Moon - Freeform, Lie Low At Lupin's (Harry Potter), M/M, Moony - Freeform, Neil Young, Podfic Welcome, Song Lyrics, do not repost to a different site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23431711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyCargo/pseuds/KittyCargo
Summary: A quick look at how Sirius spent his time when Dumbledore told him to "lie low at Lupin's," set to Neil Young's "Harvest Moon."
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 83





	Harvest Moon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wholesome_gay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholesome_gay/gifts).



_I could get used to this,_ Remus’ brain traitorously thought as Sirius flipped through records, the bottle of a beer hanging loosely by its neck from his long fingers. The nails were more jagged than they used to be, and the hands were scarred and sometimes shook, but they were still familiar and Remus still loved to watch them move about as Sirius talked, or dried dishes, or flipped through records and held beer. Remus watched curiously from his cozy spot on the sofa with his own beer as Sirius explored the collection. It’d grown since Sirius had last seen it, and Remus had no idea what Sirius would pick. It had been hard enough to predict what Sirius would be in a musical mood for back when they’d known each other inside and out sixteen years ago, much less after three years of war, twelve years of prison, and a year on the run.

The collection, as a whole, was pretty eclectic. Remus had inherited first James’ rock records, then his mother and father’s folk records, and had added his own grunge to the mix. He watched as Sirius’ thumb stroked familiar sleeves lovingly, but still he kept flipping through. Sirius flipped through all the vinyl, then started on the rows of CDs.

“Ah-ha! I want to listen to this one!” Sirius exclaimed triumphantly.

Remus blinked, unaware that his eyes had been slowly drifting shut. He was so content, full from the dinner that he and Sirius had cooked shoulder to shoulder in the small kitchen and slightly buzzed from his previous two beers. He had felt this contentment ever since Padfoot had whined at his door a week ago. It was early summer, and there was a fragile peace to their evenings. They both knew that it wouldn’t last- Dumbledore was making schemes for a grand plan, and Voldemort was plotting in his new body but Sirius had been told to “lie low at Lupin’s." It made Remus feel guilty- a war was brewing but Remus was happy and the cottage felt infinitely warmer and brighter with Sirius’ presence.

“That one?” Remus murmured in surprise, but Sirius was already opening the case, although he looked uncertain what to do with it once he had it opened. Remus slowly stood and stretched, his back and hips popping a bit from the way he’d been curled up. He slid the CD into the player, and adjusted the volume slightly. It sounded a bit more staticky than usual, and Remus wondered if it was the presence of the extra wizard, the extra magic in the air that made it like that. 

“It’s neat with CDs because you can skip around on the album much more easily than you could with the vinyl,” Remus explained as he hit the skip button forward a few times, then back, then forward and back again just for show. Sirius smiled and tilted his head, the way he always used to when he was truly interested in something.

“Wait, wait! Go back!” Sirius suddenly exclaimed, and Remus quickly punched the button to go back. “I know this one! They played it at a pub when I was in the south, and then I’d listen for it whenever I could listen to a wireless.” 

Sirius grinned as the guitar intro for Harvest Moon started. His head bobbed as he sang along, _“Come a little bit closer, hear what I have to say.”_ Sirius’ voice wasn’t as smooth as it used to be, but it was still nice.

Sirius reached out, caught Remus’ hand and pulled him near, the way they used to dance together as a joke in the common room, the way they’d ground together in clubs, and the way they’d danced in the cramped living room of their tiny London apartment so many years ago. _“Just like children sleeping, we can dream this night away.”_

Remus felt the wisp of memory tug at him, could remember two boys crammed together in a single bed, laughing together until sleep finally overtook them.

 _“But there’s a full moon rising, let’s go dancing in the light.”_ Remus remembered a wolf and a dog loping gracefully through trees in the moonlight, a stag and rat following sedately behind them. _“We know where the_ …mm-sorry, I don’t know all the words,” Sirius mumbled as he hummed and swayed along, waiting to find a spot he knew again.

 _“Because I’m still in love with you, I want to see you d_ \- no, Remus, don’t. It’s true!” Sirius tightened his hold on Remus’ waist as Remus pulled away, and grey eyes met brown. He tugged Remus back, tugged him closer; the beer and warm summer evening made Remus more pliant than usual. “I never stopped loving you. Not when I thought you were the traitor, not when I was in- in- Azkaban, and I certainly haven’t stopped now.” Sirius had stumbled over the words, but it was the most they’d talked about what they used to mean to each other since they’d reunited in the Shrieking Shack a year ago.

Remus leaned his chin on Sirius’ shoulder, and could feel Sirius’ warm breath in his ear as Sirius kept singing. _“When we were strangers, I watched you from afar.”_

There’s an emotion to Sirius’ voice that wasn’t there before, and Remus thinks of all the times last year that he walked around the grounds of Hogwarts feeling as if someone was watching him. 

_“When we were lovers, I loved you with all my heart,”_ Remus’ voice came out rough, more of a gruff whisper than actual melody. 

This time it was Sirius’ turn to pull back, searching. His brow was more lined than it’d been in Remus’ memory, and Remus couldn’t help but smooth his thumb across it, easing the worry lines.

They swayed gently together through the next chorus, their heads close together and their breaths mingled through the harmonica. When the song ended, it was Remus’ turn to confess, but the words were stuck in his throat as the next track picked up.

Sirius reached behind Remus to pick up his beer bottle from where he’d set it on the shelf, his throat bobbed as he swallowed the last of the bottle. His shoulders were hunched as he retreated uncertainly away from Remus and into the kitchen. Gryffindor bravery caught up, and Remus followed. 

“I’m still in love with you, too.” The words sounded stupid outside of the context of the song, and he cursed himself but Sirius’ face lit up with joy and he looked like the young man that Remus had fallen in love with, the young man in Remus’ memories.

They reminisced on the couch to the rest of the album, and for the first time in sixteen years, it didn’t hurt so much to think of his old friends. When Remus awoke the next morning, his back was stiff from spending the night on the couch. Sirius’ feet were in his face and the CD player was still on; it gave off a low electric hum. Remus stretched and poked his own toes into Sirius’ ear to wake him up as he ran a finger up the elegant arch of Sirius’ foot.

Maybe they’d have a fry up, or perhaps just beans on toast again. Remus wasn’t certain what the future held, but he knew at that moment he was content.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, please leave a kudos or comment! Come chat with me on tumblr anytime: [@kittycargo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kittycargo/blog/kittycargo)


End file.
